ODB: first impressions
October 23, 2010
A snap judgment has a way of becoming unfastened.
READ: John 7:14-24
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. —John 7:24
A while back, Our Daily Bread published an article I wrote about a young woman who wore a T-shirt that said, “Love Is for Losers.” In it, I commented on what a sad message that was, and I wrote about the hurt this motto represented.
To my surprise, one of our readers gave that message a completely different slant. She sent a note informing me that her daughter and her daughter’s friends—all tennis players—wear shirts with that slogan. In tennis, a “love” score is zero. If your score in a game is “love,” you lose—so in tennis, love really is for losers. That mom’s note gave me a new perspective on that saying.
This incident reminded me how easy it is to make wrong first judgments. Based on incomplete or inaccurate information, we can jump to wrong conclusions and make poor value judgments about people and situations. And that can cause great hurt to others.
Speaking to people who had misjudged Him, Jesus warned, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We need to be careful that our judgments are backed up by the right information (the truth) and the right attitude (the compassion of Christ). Try this motto: “Righteous judgment is for winners.” —Bill Crowder
Source: Our Daily Bread
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Many of us are judgmental about anything – about friends, colleagues, cars, houses, books – the list is endless. They’re also very judgmental about religions other than their own. It is sad that people believe other religions are not as good as theirs, or theirs is the most superior. In my opinion, the essence of all religions is the same – do good, be good and see good.
Lovely piece! It’s always so easy to get it wrong on our first evaluations. However, I there’s something odd about the “Love is for Losers” phrase. You don’t have to be a tennis fan to see the twist intended by someone wearing a T-shirt carrying such a label… Ok, it seems judgmental but you’d simply be burying your head in the sand if all that clicked was a game of of tennis. It’s simply a no-no for me!